4 Shots From 4 Films: The Violin, El Infierno, Miss Bala, Heli


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Despite what many people seem to believe, Cinco De Mayo is not the same thing as Mexican Independence Day (that’s celebrated on September 16th).  Instead, Cinco De Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla.  That battle was fought on May 5th, 1862.  That was a 157 years ago, today.

Cinco De Mayo is a pretty big deal down here in Texas and some of my fondest (and, in some cases, haziest) memories are related to this date.  I especially like to remember May 5th, 2007, in which I spent several hours with a group of my closest and dearest friends, sitting out on the roof of a friend’s house, watching fireworks explode over our heads.  That was a wonderful night, even if someone did eventually end up falling off the roof.  (Don’t worry, he not only survived but he’s now got a pretty good job in D.C. and he’ll probably be your congressman someday.)

In honor of the day, here are four shots from four of my favorite Mexican films….

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Violin (2005, dir by Francisco Vargas)

El Infierno (2010, dir by Luis Estrada)

Miss Bala (2011, dir by Gerardo Naranjo)

Heli (2013, dir by Amat Escalante)

What Do They Like in San Diego? Let’s Find Out…


Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

And finally, here are the San Diego Film Critics Nominations!

(Insert your own clever and snarky analysis here because I’m exhausted.  Maybe point out that they nominated Alejandro Inarritu for best director and Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone but they didn’t nominate Birdman for best film…)

(h/t to awards circuit)

Best Film

  • “Boyhood”
  • “Gone Girl”
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
  • “Nightcrawler”
  • “Selma”
  • “The Theory of Everything”

Best Director

  • Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
  • Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
  • David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
  • Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
  • Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”

Best Actor

  • Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
  • Brendan Gleeson, “Calvary”
  • Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
  • Tom Hardy, “Locke”
  • Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
  • Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”

Best Actress

  • Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
  • Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
  • Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
  • Hilary Swank, “The Homesman”
  • Mia Wasikowska, “Tracks”

Best Supporting Actor

  • Riz Ahmed, “Nightcrawler”
  • Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
  • Edward Norton, “Birdman”
  • J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
  • Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”

Best Supporting Actress

  • Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
  • Carrie Coon, “Gone Girl”
  • Keira Knightly, “The Imitation Game”
  • Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”
  • Emma Stone, “Birdman”

Best Original Screenplay

  • “Birdman”
  • “Boyhood”
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
  • “Locke”
  • “Nightcrawler”

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • “The Fault in Our Stars”
  • “Gone Girl”
  • “The Theory of Everything”
  • “Unbroken”
  • “Wild”

Best Foreign Language Film

  • “Force Majeure”
  • “Heli”
  • “Ida”
  • “Two Days, One Night”
  • “Venus in Fur”

Best Documentary

  • “CITIZENFOUR”
  • “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me”
  • “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”
  • “Last Days in Vietnam”
  • “Life Itself”

Best Animated Film

  • “Big Hero 6″
  • “The Boxtrolls”
  • “How to Train Your Dragon 2″
  • “The LEGO Movie”
  • “The Nut Job”

Best Cinematography

  • “Force Majeure” (Fredrik Wenzel)
  • “Interstellar” (Hoyte van Hoytema)
  • “Gone Girl” (Jeff Cronenweth)
  • “Nightcrawler” (Robert Elswit)
  • “Unbroken” (Roger Deakins)

Best Editing

  • “Boyhood” (Sandra Adair)
  • “Edge of Tomorrow” (James Herbert, Laura Jennings)
  • “Gone Girl” (Kirk Baxter)
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Barney Pilling)
  • “Nightcrawler” (John Gilroy)

Best Production Design

  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pincock)
  • “Into the Woods” (Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock)
  • “The Theory of Everything” (John Paul Kelly)
  • “The Imitation Game” (Maria Djurkovic)
  • “Interstellar” (Nathan Crowley)

Best Score

  • “Birdman” (Antonio Sanchez)
  • “Gone Girl” (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Alexandre Desplat)
  • “The Imitation Game” (Alexandre Desplat)
  • “Nightcrawler” (James Newton Howard)

Best Ensemble

  • “Birdman”
  • “Boyhood”
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
  • “The Imitation Game”
  • “Selma”

Blue Is The Warmest Colour and Bruce Dern Win At Cannes


Bruce Dern in Nebraksa

Here are the official winners at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d’OrBlue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche
Honorary Palme d’Or – Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux for Blue Is the Warmest Colour
Grand PrixInside Llewyn Davis by Joel & Ethan Coen
Best Director – Amat Escalante for Heli
Best Screenplay – Jia Zhangke for A Touch of Sin
Best Actress – Bérénice Bejo for The Past
Best Actor – Bruce Dern for Nebraska
Jury PrizeLike Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda

Both The Tree of Life and Amour were nominated for best picture after winning the Palme d’Or and, in fact, it could be argued that neither one of those films would have had the momentum necessary to score an Oscar nod if they hadn’t first won at Cannes.  It’ll be interesting to see if this trend will continue with Blue Is The Warmest Colour.

As for Bruce Dern — a Hollywood veteran who has appeared in a lot of iconic films but who has never won an Oscar — I have a feeling that he’ll be winning a lot of other awards before the Oscar season has ended.